Tribal Settlements and Ethno-Archaeological Studies in Maharashtra- Bhil, Warli, Mahadeo Koli and Gond Tribes

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About the Book Since ages, man is trying to adapt the ecological conditions and moulds his life accordingly. Study of settlement pattern in different setup and their material culture are studied under the umbrella of cultural anthropology. Under same climatic conditions at different geographical regions, the expressions of settlement, housing and material organization are quite similar. The present monograph tries to understand the settlement pattern of eleven tribal settlements of four tribal groups of Maharashtra. As far as settlement as a whole is considered, water sources/storage, burial ground / grave yard, crematorium, agricultural lands, temples, forests, sacred grooves, etc. are also important parts along with residential areas underlining social organization-stratification, clans and kin group distances. By studying material culture in relation to above gives a fair picture of ecology, economical, political and social organization of the simple tribal communities. As Verrier Elwin says tribal houses possess many qualities like they maintain temperature, so are cozy, cow dung works as insects repellent. Also the study is supported by the GPS mapping as a methodological tool which gives us accurate understanding of the distances of the various resources and catchment analysis for the same. The catchment analysis also indicates kind of physical exertion the average settlement dweller does. Also this contemporary study is compared with ancient agro pastoral communities of the Deccan. In Ethno-archaeological approach, the cultural parallels are drawn between the past and present cultures. Along with material culture, directions of the varied spaces in the settlement, community use area, private residential units, their arrangements and man to space ratio, in association with family size, family organization, burial places or crematoriums, life after death concepts, water and other natural sources, etc. Human population groups never settled at a particular place without its resourcefulness. Keeping this in mind it is interesting to contrast and compare past and present for the communities of different tribal groups.

Hopefully this holistic settlement study will interest the students and scholars of anthropology, archaeology, indology, history, geography, and fulfill the curiosity of layman. Such studies can be carried out in other parts of India and may give impetus to varied research problems and studies.

About the Authors Dr. Preeti Prabhune has completed Diploma and Masters in Indology and Masters in Anthropology. For this, she addressed the issues related to the dam induced rehabilitation and settlement's self development. She qualified National Eligibility Test for Lecturership (NET-2013) in Anthropology and began with the Ph.D. titled, "A Study of Settlement Pattern, Nutrition and Diseases Among Bhil, Warli, Mahadeo Koli Tribes of Maharashtra: An Ethno-archaeological Approach"; for this she had received Centralized Open Doctoral Fellowship by Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi. The same Council has awarded her Post-Doctoral Fellowship for present research project "Setting Up an Interventional Model to Combat Nutritional Challenges of Street Children in Pune City". She was a part of many research projects as a Research Assistant and Associate at university level and delved more on the area of Ethno archaeology, Bio-cultural Anthropology. Medical Anthropology. Socio-cultural Anthropology, Feminists Anthropology and Developmental Anthropology. During this, she could understand the lifeways of many tribal populations in India like Bhil, Pawara, Tadvi, Warli, Konkana, Thakar, Mahadeo Koli, Gond, Madia, etc; and also the urban immigrants on periphery.

Dr. Preeti began her journey with journalism, then a school teacher, afterwards enjoyed the complete research process. She has a five years experience in NGO sector as community development manager and research director. She published many research papers, articles and a Marathi book titled, "A Day With Female Workers" has by Unmesh Publications, Pune. She is presently working on the compilation of demographic variables about Bhima Basin for Maharashtra Gazetteer.

Aarti Prasanna Nawathe is a presently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology in Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra. Her educational background counts for Masters in History, Anthropology and Indology. In the year 2013 she earned the eligibility in NET Anthropology and in 2018 SET in History too. Currently she is pursuing her Doctoral degree from Savitribai Phule Pune University in Bio-cultural Anthropology. Being trained Anthropologist and working for more than 7 years in the field of research, she possesses the versatile experience of tribal as well as in urban studies. The projects like ethno archeological study of settlement pattern, Ethno botanical study of tribes of Maharashtra and networking and group dynamics analysis of Government schools in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu States have offered her in-depth understanding of cultural ecological diversities and their association and impact on human lives and societies. It has enriched her experience encompassing various fields of anthropology such as ethno archeology. medical anthropology, developmental anthropology, urban anthropology, biological anthropology and so on. She has her teaching experience more than 12 years in History with reputed institutions in Pune. She has 7 research articles published in reputed journals and 6 popular articles from popular periodicals. Apart from this, she is appointed as 'Co-coordinator for Marathi Vishwakosh, Vai, for the subject of Anthropology and also she authors few entries in it. Along with this she is working on compilation of various demographic factors associated with Bhima Basin for Maharashtra Gazetteer.

Preface Cement-concerete jungles in urban setting are far away from natural beauty and peace of mind. Victory over nature is an urban myth can be sensed truly when we come across the issues like farmers committing suicides.

Since ages, man is trying to adapt the ecological conditions and moulds his life accordingly. Study of settlement pattern of primates and human beings in different setup and their material culture are studied under the umbrella of cultural anthropology. Under same climatic conditions at different geographical regions, the expressions of settlement, housing and material organisation are quite similar. As Verrier Elwin says tribal houses possess many qualities like they maintain temperature, so are cosy, cowdung works as insects repellent. As far as settlement as a whole is considered, water sources / storage, burial ground / grave yard, crematorium, agricultural lands, temples, forests, sacred grooves, etc. are also important parts along with residential areas underlining social organization - stratification, clans and kingroup distances. By studying material culture in relation to above gives a fair picture of ecology, economical, political and social organization of the simple tribal communities.

Though these simple folks are rarely untouched these days due to urbanization and connectivity, it is important to document its present statuesque, traditional lifeways, cultural parallels found through ancient cultural parallels in the same region enable to have good understanding of culture. Culture is patterned and processed, is the paradox, indicating its stable and dynamic nature.

Introduction Since ages, ecology has played a great role in shaping human life. Each human culture represents an intimate adjustment to its particular physical environment and the possibilities for working out the great diversity of customs. Prehistoric investigations shed light on the various social customs of the early human group. When a series of small sites belonging to one culture show very few artifacts, few burials, very little depth of debris, and little or no evidence of structures, it is inferred that the social group represented by such remains was very small, comprising of a few family units who kept themselves engaged in hunting, fishing or gathering. But when a particular site reveals an extensive and deep cultural deposits, evidence of houses, large complex ceremonial buildings, remains of stockade and palisade etc. a different type of social and economic pattern is indicated. It announces the presence of a large relatively stable group based on agriculture. Each and every item uncovered from the site contributes in building a perception about a very culture.

The term civilization has been derived from the Latin word 'city-state' to mean an urban society. A civilization is a larger unit than a culture and in fact it includes a number of cultures. The unity of cultures is maintained by a general mode of living, which may or may not be an outcome of racial similarity. There are plenty of factors including the climatic condition, which influence the mode of life of the people of diverse cultures in a particular area. However the cultures advance toward civilizations when a new relationship was established between man, animals and plants.

**Contents and Sample Pages**